Martlets Fall to K-O

The Martlets traveled to KO for the annual off-day Monday match against KO. Always a competitive match, the Martlets started off slow in doubles but had chances throughout all the matches. Liam Hibbard ‘27 and Alex Brown ‘27 had a rematch against a strong#1 doubles team, and had chances in their 8-3 loss. Crosby Cutler ‘27 and Xavier Kahn ‘27 also had some chances and remained on serve for the first 7 games of their #3 doubles match before their opponents pulled ahead for the 8-3 win. Finally, Will Henry ‘26 and Noah Maltby ‘28 had many competitive points in their 8-4 loss at #2 doubles. Going into singles, the Martlets knew this would be a tough ask but gave their best in the singles matches. The theme of singles was matches that appeared closer than the final score would indicate. Daniel Frid ‘27 played a tough and hard hitting opponent in his match at #5 singles, falling 6-1;6-0. Alex Brown ‘27 played a tough lefty and they had many great points but KO won that match 6-1;6-1. Will Henry ‘26 played many deuces but couldn’t get a rhythm on his backhand, falling 6-3;6-2. Noah Maltby ‘28 had a slow start in his match at #4 singles, but ended with several deuce games in a 6-0;6-2 loss. Liam Hibbard ‘27 was ready for a rematch against the KO #1, who he had a battle with in the KITT tournament. After going down a break, Liam rallied to level the set at 5-5. Both players knew they had a battle on their hands at that point. Somewhere in that game, Liam minorly twisted his ankle but suffered through to finish the set which his opponent won 7-5. After a medical timeout to tape his ankle and a bathroom break, Liam came out strong in the second set and took it 6-0. The breaker was back and forth, before Ciaran won the final two points to pull out the 7-5;0-6;12-10 victory in what was a very well played match by both players. Finally, making his singles debut, Xavier Kahn ‘27 took the first 6-3. After dropping the second set, both players and coaches agreed to move the match indoors due to the fading light. After a brief warmup, they went back and forth before Xavier pulled ahead in the final few points to seal the martlets only win of the day, 6-3;4-6;10-6. The team was excited to avoid the sweep and left knowing they had played good tennis against a good team. Grit and grace award goes to Liam for battling through his ankle injury while also playing a great match with a tough opponent who had beaten him before. The Martlets look to rebound later this week when we play Deerfield on Wednesday and TP on Saturday.